Yes something had to be done and i could not let all the hard work all Members put in, lost.Also the thought of loosing all that history and MemoriesHopefully this site although in it's early stages will be better.

It is good to see the new site which is nicely presented and I'm sure will be a great success. Just a comment having only read a few threads regarding posting of material that it not the property of the member or clearly not in the public domain. Strictly speaking this material should not be uploaded as this technically would make the site and member in breach of copyright law. If the site is not making any material gain (ie income - possibly advertising) it is unlikely to be open to action providing it has a "take down" policy and a statement in the T's & C's that members take responsibility for their uploads.

If not ther own work, it would be helpful, (probably wise?) for members to credit their source(s). Even Getty Images no longer chase this sort of copyright infringement provided any picture still has their watermark or full credit is given. Removal of a copyright would be proof that the offender has broken the law. Material (inc pictures) on Wikipedia are graded as to what conditions apply for you to use them (eg Creative Commons etc). Again use is on acceptance of full credit of the Intellectual Property Rights holder.

Sorry for sounding heavy or a spoil sport, but having had several photos 'stolen' from the old site and in some instances used by a national newspaper, local estate agent, a local church, etc as well as websites in Russia, Greece, Turkey and the Americas where they have got a commerical gain, it rankles! In addition to a breach of the copyright laws is just downright rude to take without asking for permission. This is why I stopped uploading images on the old site.

I've already spotted a couple of my images on the new site. The first did carry my watermark with an incorrect caption, the second had had my watermarked cropped off of it. This in particular is important as this image is now "orphaned" and is prime to get copied with no reference back to the owner. I will probably send a PM to the member to ask for it to be removed or replaced with the original image.

Best wishes and good luck with the new site and host,freddie

PS: I don't object to anyone adding a link to my images on Flickr in their posts.